Guadeloupe[R]

[Father Ted]

Guadeloupe are not a member of FIFA yet are participating at the 2007 Concacaf Gold Cup. A few questions... (not putting down the team, I think it's a great story)...

How is they play in the Gold Cup?

Can someone of Guadeloupan descent e.g. Thierry Henry play for them and not get cap-tied?

Do players from opposing teams e.g. Mexico get awarded caps from FIFA when they play Guadeloupe?

What happens if Guadeloupe wins the Gold Cup, the winner goes to the 2009 Confederations Cup - a FIFA tournament?

[O Fenômeno]

I believe they are part of french republic or something...so the french national team will continue to bait their players..

[tomwilhelm]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadeloupe

They are an "overseas department" and are, for all intents and purposes, no different from other metropolitan departments in France, like Lorraine or Corsica.

I for one am looking forward to Corsica's run in Euro 2012...

[devioustrevor]

Guadeloupe are not a member of FIFA yet are participating at the 2007 Concacaf Gold Cup. A few questions... (not putting down the team, I think it's a great story)...

How is they play in the Gold Cup?

Because they are a member of CONCACAF. There are about 5 nations in CONCACAF that aren't FIFA members.

Can someone of Guadeloupan descent e.g. Thierry Henry play for them and not get cap-tied?

I don't know about being cap tied, I do know that Guadeloupan players capped by France can play for Guadeloupe as long as their professional career is over. Jocelyn Angloma, who was capped 37 times by France, has two goals for Guadeloupe (1 vs. Canada, 1 vs. Honduras). Lillian Thuram has mentioned that once his career is over he may chose to play for Guadeloupe.

Also, Thierry Henry couldn't play for Guadeloupe, he could however play for Martinique (who, like Guadeloupe, are a member of CONCACAF but not FIFA as they too are an overseas territory.

Do players from opposing teams e.g. Mexico get awarded caps from FIFA when they play Guadeloupe?

I would assume so, they are afterall still playing matches for their nations.

What happens if Guadeloupe wins the Gold Cup, the winner goes to the 2009 Confederations Cup - a FIFA tournament?

Because Guadeloupe isn't a member of FIFA, they wouldn't be allowed to represent CONCACAF. CONCACAF's representative would be the the Gold Cup finalist in such a situation.

[Sagy]

Do players from opposing teams e.g. Mexico get awarded caps from FIFA when they play Guadeloupe?
I would assume so, they are afterall still playing matches for their nations.Based on FIFA's site (http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/results/male.html), it looks like games involving Guadeloupe are not considered "A" internationals (they are not listed) and as such FIFA doesn't recognize the "cap". Individual countries might treat these games differently.

[JLSA]

Based on FIFA's site (http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/results/male.html), it looks like games involving Guadeloupe are not considered "A" internationals (they are not listed) and as such FIFA doesn't recognize the "cap". Individual countries might treat these games differently.

Of course, the FIFA database will only spit out results it can cope with. If Guadeloupe is not included in some parts of the site it may not be possible for the website to cope with (at one stage, the old FIFA website used to give results for Martinique - then they gave them but the flag was broken - then they disappeared all together).

Personally, Gold Cup matches (probably including qualifiers) should be "A" internationals. Friendlies involving non-FIFA members are probably rightly regarded as not.

J

[SwissGCZ]

I personally find the whole situation ridiculous. Either make these "pending" associations full FIFA members or strip their confederation affiliation. Are any associations outside CONCACAF affected?

[tomwilhelm]

I personally find the whole situation ridiculous. Either make these "pending" associations full FIFA members or strip their confederation affiliation. Are any associations outside CONCACAF affected?

End soccer colonization! Let's see the Europeans talk smack when the French and Dutch national teams are playing in Concacaf... ;)

[JLSA]

I personally find the whole situation ridiculous. Either make these "pending" associations full FIFA members or strip their confederation affiliation. Are any associations outside CONCACAF affected?

Obviously example is Tuvalu, who will play matches that will affect the World Cup qualification in August/September, but who won't be FIFA members.

However, note that in the last WC quals, New Caledonia were not members of FIFA until after they were eliminated (about a week after IIRC) but those matches have appeared in the FIFA database since.

Again, the database will reflect what some database person puts into it, not the truth.

J

[Friedel'sAccent]

Obviously example is Tuvalu, who will play matches that will affect the World Cup qualification in August/September, but who won't be FIFA members.

However, note that in the last WC quals, New Caledonia were not members of FIFA until after they were eliminated (about a week after IIRC) but those matches have appeared in the FIFA database since.

Again, the database will reflect what some database person puts into it, not the truth.

J

Unlike Guadeloupe, New Caledonia is a whole other (fascinating) can of worms. Guadeloupe, IMO, would never be able to join FIFA, for the simple reason that it's as integrated into France as Paris or Picardy (in theory, at least). New Caledonia, on the other hand, is sort of halfway between an independent country and an overseas department--in 5 or so years, they're voting on independence. Greater autonomy, including their own currency, is probably enough to satisfy FIFA.
Kinda like how, in the US's case, a Hawaiian national team wouldn't necessarily be recognized by FIFA but Puerto Rico is.

[tomwilhelm]

For the record, the only national teams in the same situation as Guadaloupe are:

French Guyana
Martinique
Saint-Martin
Sint-Maarten

All are full CONCACAF members, while not being FIFA members. No other team is both a full member of their confederation and a non-member of FIFA.